Liaison
by blitszkrieg
Summary: "Because you never think that the last time is the last time. You think there will be more. You think you have forever, but you don't." -Anonymous


_Disclaimer_: I do not own Naruto and its characters. However, I do own this story.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Unforgotten Love<strong>

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><p>Hinata's hands gripped tighter at the car's wheel, almost strangling it, as she approached her destination. You could only hear the soft pats of the rain hit her windows that came running down the city of Tokyo and the fading sound of the last song played in the local radio. "It seems the gods are crying today," she mumbled to herself.<p>

Her car came to a halt before gray fences that ran from one block to another. She grabbed her things sitting next to her and with one more look at her overhead mirror she stepped out to the rain. There it read, "Yanaka Cemetery."

Hinata prefers to visit when the sun is out as the rain can get the mood more gloomy, but then again, when she thinks about it, she also dislikes it when the sun is out shining brightly down at her. It's as if it's telling her how everyone's having a good day except her. Well, you don't say.

She was able to reach the spot without half-way running back to her car instead. She looked up the sky and breathed in and out. Where does she start? It's been a while since she visited, and a lot of the time, she ends up not saying anything; just standing there, guessing if there were indeed roaming spirits and what not, _he_ knows how much she was struggling without him beside her.

There was a light tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me?" She was suddenly disrupted by a deep voice behind her.

"Oh. Uh, sorry, I was kind of spacing out a bit." She bowed to apologize, because from the tone of the voice, he sounded a bit vexed. He was probably calling out to her more than once to catch her attention. Just as she raised her head, her eyes widened and she clung on to her umbrella a little bit tighter. "Itachi…"

But that was wrong, he couldn't be here, unless… "I mean, Sasuke…" She ducked her down, looking everywhere else—anything—just not at him. "I'm sorry, I—" Before she could say anything more, he cut her off. "Hinata."

He saw her shoulders tense up a little as he called her name. "It's fine."

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><p>"Here's my number." He handed a small piece of paper ripped up from his diary. "If you ever need anything. I'm going to be here for a while."<p>

Hinata stared at the paper before her, contemplating whether she was to accept it or not. Sasuke saw her frown a bit. Knowing already what was on her mind, he placed the paper between them to give her that choice.

No words were uttered, and the only thing you could hear are giggling high school girls, keyboard taps, ringing phones, and loud voices ordering caffeine or hot cocoas. The rain was still coming down a bit hard so probably half of Tokyo took shelter in cafes.

Hinata lifted her eyes with her face gracing furrowed brows. "Don't you think… this is a bit awkward…?" She lightly bit her lip down, and played with her fingers. It was a bad habit of hers whenever she was anxious or nervous. "Besides, why should I call _you_ if I ever needed something?" She asked, finally leaning back to the chair as she crossed her arms.

"Itachi…" Sasuke began. By now, Hinata was tightening the hold of her arms together. It all took one word—his name—just for feelings she thought she had more or less suppressed to resurface again. "He would want to see you taken care of."

She didn't say anything. She doesn't understand what he was trying to say. He has no responsibility to her so why was he doing this? She wanted to ask why, but she knew if she would start talking, her voice would come out as a croak.

She gulped, trying to remove that lump on her throat. She started to breathe heavily so as to calm herself down. "H-He's gone. So why?" She still couldn't say _that_ word as that would mark finality. She didn't want that. Whatever she keeps telling herself are just beautiful, tragic lies. She was still holding on to him.

She balled her fists, and pursed her lips. Just seeing his little brother that was oh-so similar to him gave her unwanted flashbacks of his face. Handsome would be an understatement to describe him.

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><p>Her fingers traced his well-built, almost as if sculpted, torso to his defined collar bone; and his Adam's apple to his soft, unchapped lips. Her hand caressed his face as she planted a kiss on his cheek, coaxing him to wake up. "Itachi…" She whispered softly to the sleeping man beside her. She heard a soft moan leave his lips as he slowly stirred up from his sleep.<p>

She noticed how lately she's been unintentionally watching him when he's asleep more so that there's a possibility that she might even know the exact centimeter height of his nose, the distance between his eyes, and the length of his eyelashes. If she were to close her eyes when she paints a portrait of him, it might end up just as it would when her eyes were open. It can come out a bit creepy to an average person, but he didn't have fan clubs for nothing.

His eyes flickered opened and turned his head to her, showing onyx eyes that were yet to be fully awake. "What time is it?" He asked, rubbing his face to wake himself up. His eyes scanned the room for the remaining rays of the sun but found none except the dim bedroom lights.

Hinata mimicked his actions when he propped himself up with his elbows to a sitting position. Her head rested on his shoulders and entangled their hands together. "I think it's almost 8. How long were you asleep?" Her pale eyes lost on their entwined hands.

He seemed to have come home rather early today since she was the one who usually arrives before the sun sets. She was still in her slacks when she climbed up next to him. Her works along with some of her colleagues are to be exhibited in a gala three days from now, and today was no different from the past couple of weeks of continuous stress from managing the event. Her hair was no longer as alive as it was that morning, and her eyes, bags underneath had started to poke deeper than she wanted to. (She would definitely need to buy a more effective concealer to hide that.)

"It was only supposed to be an hour nap, but I guess I've been sleeping for four hours already. Now I got a shitload piled up for tonight." He grunted at the thought of more work and less sleep later. "Damn Shikaku wants me to redo my plates with the minor changes he noted." He clicked his tongue with annoyance. He knows he has the best design for their pseudo project – an auxiliary building for the Tokyo University School of Science – but his Research in Architecture professor, though took the course at a lax pace, was particular in details so submissions came to be a stress than a breeze.

"Don't be too strict on yourself." She looked up to him and stroked his face. "Four hours is fine. I haven't gotten my four hours yet." She playfully pouted. He half-smiled.

His thumb rubbed hers and placed a small kiss on her temple. Unknowingly, her eyes shut close to the warmth of his lips and touch of his nose on hers. When his lips left hers, she looked up to him and stared. "What?" He cocked his head to the right, puzzled at the sudden staring contest she was attempting. "You're too beautiful for your own good!"

He closed his eyes as he leaned back on the bed and sighed. "Again with the beautiful." He heard her lightly laughed. "But it's true…" She smiled.

"To me, you are the most beautiful person I have ever met in my life." His eyes intensely stared on her own as he titled her chin up to him to meet his lips.

Hinata blushed at his compliment and forwardness. Itachi wasn't exactly the most romantic person per se. He's good with words, that is, within the context of photography, architecture, and business; but words of love, that subject can be a little tricky for him. What she does know though is that he could compensate that with actions. His touches were full of love and passion that it sends shivers to her spine just thinking about it.

It was getting a little too hot for her as his previously gentle kisses were now lustful and demanding. "Itachi…" She managed to breathe out. His lips were now nibbling on her neck, and his hands were rubbing her thighs, giving her small squeeze.

Just when he started to unbutton her blouse, a faint sound of a grumbling stomach was heard. He stopped for a moment realizing it was him. He turned slightly red from embarrassment, gaining a small giggle from the woman beside him. "Well that was awkward." He managed to cough out. "Should we order takeout tonight?" He untangled himself from the bed sheets and got up to stretch his arms.

She clasped her hand together. "Ah!" She quickly stood on her feet. "Now I finally remember why I came to wake you up."

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><p>Just an appearance of the younger Uchiha is like proving to her that her attempts at forgetting the older one are futile. She almost cursed, unsure whether it was because she bit her lip harder than she was supposed to or at the thought of how weak she is when it comes to this man's brother.<p>

"You…" He paused as she watched her get the paper in front of her then fold it together. She held it for a while before proceeding to unfold the piece of paper and fold it back again.

She then tucked in some of the strands that fell from behind her ears moments ago. She was so concentrated in making something out of the paper that he didn't know if her ears still wanted to hear his answer. "You're the closest memory I have of Itachi," he finally said.

He almost regretted it when the words slipped out of his mouth. What was he saying? He knew what he said was wrong, but he cared a lot about his brother despite a few fights here and there. Clinging to Hinata won't bring him back, that he knew, but maybe somewhere along the way, he would pick up bits and pieces of him once again.

Her hands stopped playing with the paper and her head shot up to look at him with surprised eyes. "I…" She opened her mouth to only close it. She looked back down again to her fingers and what it held. There it was neatly written, on the now-crinkled paper, his name, Uchiha Sasuke, and his contact number. She folded the paper once again.

After another minute of silence had passed, she slipped it on her jeans' back pocket. She got up from her seat and grabbed her things, then left without a word.

He watched her push the café door as the bell hanging on the top of it clinked together. Thanks to the transparent picture windows, he could see her stop at the parking meters and dig in her bag for her car keys. She mumbled something, probably a cuss word, when she dropped them on the floor. She roughly picked it up to finally open her car doors. Her parking headlights lit up indicating a started engine before it shifted to the night lights brightly to his way. It was nightfall after all, and just a couple hours ago, her existence was unbeknownst to him. Now he wonders if an unknown caller will light up on his phone, and when he asks who it was, "Hyuuga Hinata" would be the answer.

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><p><em>Author's Notes<em>: I am finally able to post this first chapter. According to my document's info, I started this story Sunday, August 11, 2011 at 1:22 AM. Yes, it is until this day that I was finally able to complete the chapter. Once in a while I would often read it, touch it up a tad bit, but was never able to put into words what I want to happen. I can't say this chapter did just that, but this _is_ at least something, right?

My English is terrible. I most likely have a grammatical errors and un/needed punctuation marks, but I truly hope you all enjoy this. It took me three years to write this, so y'all better like it! (lmao) This is unbeta'd, by the way.

I am not familiar with art terminologies so please let me know if "plates" are used not "blueprints" for architecture schools. There are also a lot of details about their pasts, interests, and hobbies, so please keep that in mind when you read future chapters.

I can't guarantee a fixed release schedule, but know that the entire outline of the story has been done since last June 25, 2013. Talk about writer's block, huh. (Though I don't really call myself one...)


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